Kevin O’Connell Clarifies Vikings’ New Injuries after the Cincinnati Carnage
Kevin O’Connell saw his team fall apart in Week 2. Kevin O’Connell then saw his team inflict some carnage on Cincinnati in Week 3, winning in all three phases of the game.
Climbing up to 2-1 will obviously hit as good news for Minnesota. What may be even more encouraging, though, is that the tidal wave of injuries has subsided. Kick it over to the coach for who got dinged up in yesterday’s game: “Just a little injury update. We did come out relatively clean, for the most part. [Jeff] Okudah was evaluated for a concussion but was cleared to return. [Javon] Hargrave had like a chest, rib contusion.” The encouraging detail with Hargrave rests in O’Connell’s clarification that the powerful DT could have jumped back into the game.
Kevin O’Connell on the Vikings’ New Injuries
Begin with the other good news: the roster had several players return.
Most notably, Christian Darrisaw was back on the field. The stud left tackle didn’t appear too rusty. He took on Trey Hendrickson, one of the game’s foremost edge rushers (he finished 2nd in Defensive Player of the Year voting last year and was a first-team All Pro). By the end of the day, Mr. Hendrickson had just a single tackle within 42 snaps.
Coach O’Connell indicated that he thought “Christian Darrisaw’s snaps were absolutely outstanding and he could have continued, as well, but we had a mindset on kind of what we got from Christian today from a snap standpoint.”
Anything positive happen as a result of seeing veteran safety Harrison Smith back out there? “Harrison Smith comes back and immediately puts his hands on a ball, tips it and led to [Isaiah Rodgers’} first touchdown,” O’Connell said.
What of outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel? “And then Andrew Van Ginkel with the 2 sacks, coming back being his reliable self in every way,” O’Connell further explained.
Minnesota’s top coach noticed having all of Darrisaw, Smith, and Van Ginkel back out there. Anyone who watched the game could have come away with a similar conclusion: a healthier Vikings roster is a more formidable Vikings roster.
Lately, the games have been finishing with mixed on-field results alongside poor health outcomes.
Yes, Week 1 ended up being a victory, but the team had to see running back Ty Chandler and linebacker Blake Cashman step away. Each are now on the IR through (at minimum) the Week 6 bye. After Week 2, the Vikings had to confront the terrible play and the news of J.J. McCarthy being hurt alongside Aaron Jones needing to go to the IR.
Kevin O’Connell’s Vikings had to confront no such issues in Week 3.
The Vikings were so dominant that the backups got a reasonably hearty workload. Telling Carson Wentz to have a seat on the bench in the 4th was good news for at least a pair of reasons. First, Minnesota was about to win very easily. Second, there was a lesser chance of the QB2-turned-QB1 getting hurt in a meaningless moment.
The injuries that did occur appear to be minor, at least according to what Kevin O’Connell was saying. Okudah had to get evaluated but was healthy enough to get back into the game. Hargrave was kept out, but Cincinnati was being eviscerated. No need to force the veteran DT to risk anything. After all, the young DTs — Jalen Redmond and Levi Drake Rodriguez — were having a day.
Kevin O’Connell has already explained that Carson Wentz will start in Week 4. Why do anything different? Giving J.J. McCarthy more time off makes a lot of sense; the kid QB can get his body right as he resets mentally. Wentz can go out there to keep functioning as a point guard.
Oh, and one more thing: Jordan Addison is coming back due to his suspension ending. The 2-1 Vikings are trending in a positive direction a week after looking like a disaster.
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